so in the photos I’ve had to cut the bottom no off 2 plants as it grew them back over the last few days so we’re still only on 2 nodes each plant however they’re looking a bit tall at the moment, doesn’t seem to be ideal for quad lining a grow?
From the appearance of the right most plant in the top pic, it looks like the bottom 5 nodes have been removed and about 4 nodes above are growing out. So yes that does make the stalk of the plant a bit taller before there is growth, but people lollypop their plants too, so I see no issue with that, if a taller stalk suits you it is not a problem.
Last year I only removed the first node and kept the 2nd and 3rd nodes by topping about the 3rd node, that kept the stalk short and allowed (perhaps) easier tying of the training wire to holes I drilled into the rim of the pots. However a down side was that there became so many training wires tied to the rim that I couldn't access the soil to give a top dressing or add some mulch or water easily etc. This year I have topped a node higher and let the stalk get a little higher to hopefully allow better access to the soil level in the pot.
The other thing to remember is that training can/will slow the plant when it is trained/pruned. Some plants don't bat an eyelid and others will seem to stop growing for a week or so while they recover each time they are topped/pruned/whatever. The more 'fancy' you want to train the plant then most likely the more time you'll need to spend vegging the plant. A past member here (Light Addict) developed a training style he called 'Fluxing' with just 2 arms where he would extensively train all the laterals to branch out horizontally to end up like a big canoe, his plants were spectacular, but to do that he would have to veg them for up to 8 - 9 months! He also did some very nice Quadlined plants before the term had even came about. My point here is that you can do a lot things with pruning and training but you may need to devote more time in veg for the plants to grow into the desired shape you want, so don't be too ambitious if time is against you. One of his plants he was growing for months and then lost it because of a power cut ruined the grow so there can be risk in so much investment into one plant. In case anyone is interested, just for laughs, here's a link to one of his smaller plants.
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And another that he called "The Death Star"
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I don't know what it would be called but I was going try running tight ropes where I want the branch to go and "trellis" them. Anchor near the plant and then run at a slight angle upwards - enough that the plant still thinks it is growing upwards.
Ropes, training wires, strings, bamboo sticks etc, can all be used. I drill holes in the rims of my pots to attach training wires to. My only concern with using ropes would be in a potentially humid growing environment where rain/watering makes the ropes wet, will that create potential fungal/mould conditions?? I once had a plant that developed a fungal condition where I had used cloth ties on that part of the plant to train it. I wasn't sure but I felt it may have been from the cloth absorbing and holding water that may have contributed to it happening, needless to say, after that I have never used cloth ties again, only plastic or rubber coated wire. It's probably fine but that's my 2 cents of cautiousness about using training tie material that can hold moisture.
I topped 2 of them and left 2 of them to see what will happen. Unfortunately in the picture the two on the right are looking slightly droopy, these 2 were at the back of the tent so I’ve pushed them to the front now instead, see what the outcome is over the next day or 2.
